Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981 in Vienna) is an Austrian tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He is a left-handed tennis player, but is right-handed in everyday life. He has a younger brother, Gerald Melzer, with whom he has played doubles in several tournaments.

In 1999, he won the boys' singles event at Wimbledon. For many years, he was known as one of the best players on the tour not to have progressed past the third round of a Grand Slam event. He ended this streak by reaching the semifinals of the French Open in 2010, losing to Rafael Nadal after coming from two sets down to defeat Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.[1] He remains the only person to defeat Djokovic from two sets behind. He has also had success in doubles, winning the men's doubles event at Wimbledon in 2010 and the US Open in 2011 with Philipp Petzschner, as well as the mixed doubles event at Wimbledon in 2011 with his then future (and later ex) wife Iveta Benešová.

In 1998, Melzer started playing in Futures in his country, where he won his first two matches, but lost the next four.

In 1999, he started playing outside of Austria in Futures and Challengers. He competed in his first main-draw match in the 1999 CA-TennisTrophy in Vienna, Austria, where he defeated Lars Burgsmüller, before losing to then world no. 11 Nicolas Kiefer in two sets.

In 2000, Melzer continued playing in Futures and Challengers, but was only able to reach one quarterfinal. He also made his Grand Slam debut at the 2000 Wimbledon, but lost to Australian Mark Philippoussis in four sets.

Melzer lost in the first round of the Australian Open at the start of the season, but then reached the semifinals in Zagreb, losing to defending/eventual champion Marin Čilić. After a quarterfinal appearance in Rotterdam, where he lost to Nikolay Davydenko, Melzer reached the semifinals in Dubai, where he lost to Mikhail Youzhny. Later in the year, Melzer reached the quarterfinals of the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid, losing to Nicolás Almagro. Melzer followed this up with his best result in a Grand Slam to date by reaching the semifinals of the French Open. En route, he caused a significant upset by defeating ninth seed David Ferrer in straight sets, followed by a four-set win over Teymuraz Gabashvili (who had beaten Andy Roddick in the previous round), and by a five set triumph over Novak Djokovic, coming back from a two-set deficit for the first time in his career.[1] He was eventually defeated by four-time champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets.

Melzer followed this up by reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon, where he was defeated by Roger Federer in their first career meeting.[7] However, at the same tournament, he achieved his greatest success by winning the doubles title with German partner Philipp Petzschner.

After playing a few clay-court tournaments, reaching the final in one, and having good results in the others, Melzer moved on to the hard-court season, losing to Peter Polansky in the first round of Montreal and Ernests Gulbis in the second round of Cincinnati. He then played the US Open, where he reached the fourth round for the third consecutive Grand Slam tournament, having never been past the third round prior to the French Open. He played Roger Federer for a spot in the quarterfinals, having also played him in the fourth round of Wimbledon. Federer once again defeated him in straight sets.

At the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 in October, Melzer recorded one of the biggest wins of his career against world no. 1 Rafael Nadal. This was Melzer's first victory against Nadal and the first time he had beaten a reigning no. 1. He then lost to Argentina's Juan Mónaco in the quarterfinals.

In the last week of October, he won his third career title, defending his 2009 victory in Vienna's 2010 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy against his compatriot Andreas Haider-Maurer in a thrilling final; coming back from a set and a break down at 4–5 down (Haider-Maurer serving at 15–0) and three points away from defeat, to put up a heroic comeback and clinch the three set epic victory.[8]

Melzer's final tournament of the year as a singles player was the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, where he advanced to the quarterfinals, before losing to world no. 2 Roger Federer. As a result of winning the Wimbledon doubles championship, Melzer and his doubles partner Philipp Petzschner qualified for a doubles team spot in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, but his bid to qualify as a singles player ended when Andy Roddick defeated Ernests Gulbis in the third round of the Paris Masters, giving Roddick an insurmountable lead in qualifying points for the last individual spot in the ATP World Tour Finals.

Melzer started the year at the Australian Open. He reached the third round without dropping a set, before defeating 21st seed Marcos Baghdatis in the third round after Baghdatis retired with Melzer leading. He was defeated by Andy Murray in the fourth round. Despite the loss, Melzer cracked the top 10 for the first time in his career.

Since then, Melzer failed to chalk up any back-to-back wins until appearing at the 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. Seeded ninth, he finally won consecutive matches as he beat Robin Haase, and Nicolás Almagro, to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in this tournament. There, he pulled off a surprise two-set win over no. 3 ranked and second seed Roger Federer to reach the semifinal stage for the first time in an ATP Masters 1000 tournament. However, he failed to reach his first final in such a tournament after losing against David Ferrer.[10]

In the 2011 US Open men's doubles final, he arguably had his greatest success of the year when he and his doubles partner Philipp Petzschner won a controversial decision over the Polish team of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski to claim the trophy. During a net exchange, a ball ricocheted off Petzschner's left shin, though he denied it. Instant replay of the telecast clearly confirmed the illegal return. Jurgen/Petzschner broke through in that game and won the match in straight sets, splitting a $420,000 purse.[11]

In singles, Melzer had an inauspicious start to the year, exiting in the first round in Brisbane and the Australian Open. He did make the final in Brisbane in doubles, partnering Philipp Petzschner, and he won the tournament in Memphis against Canadian Milos Raonic.

In Monte Carlo, he made the quarterfinals in doubles, partnering Florian Mayer. After that, he had a series of quick exits in singles: the first round at the French Open, the second at Wimbledon, and the first at the US Open. However, he made it to the semifinals at Wimbledon in doubles.

The fall went somewhat better in singles, with a quarterfinal showing in Shanghai and a semifinal in Valencia. He also made quarterfinal showings in Beijing and Shanghai and a semifinal in Vienna, with various partners. However, the Paris Masters was back to a first-round exit in singles against Grigor Dimitrov and a first-match defeat in doubles.

Melzer made the quarterfinals in Brisbane, where he was eliminated by Grigor Dimitrov. At the Australian Open, he was defeated in the third round in straight sets by Tomáš Berdych.

He made the final in Zagreb, only to lose to Marin Čilić in straight sets. He went out in the first round at Indian Wells, but made it to the quarterfinals in Miami, losing to David Ferrer in three sets. He was eliminated in the third round at Monte Carlo by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

He made a quick first-round exit at the French Open, but made it to the fourth round at Wimbledon, losing to young rising player Jerzy Janowicz.

At Wimbledon, he made it to the quarterfinals in doubles.

His only singles tournament victory was in Winston-Salem, where he defeated Gaël Monfils, when the Frenchman had to retire in the second set. After that, Melzer was defeated in the first round of the US Open in straight sets by Evgeny Donskoy. He made it to the semifinals in Kuala Lumpur, losing to Portuguese João Sousa in three tight sets.

Melzer failed to qualify for Wimbledon in 2015. Notably, he faced his younger brother Gerald in the first round qualifying and won in straight sets. Jürgen described it as the "worst tennis day of my life and I hope we will never play each other again.".[12]

In July Melzer upset world No. 9 Dominic Thiem at the Austrian Open after a long injury absence. This was his first victory over a top-10 player in over five years. In the next round, the quarterfinal, he lost to his brother Gerald.